


Stories of Hallownest

by TheFiredancer



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 01:16:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20381284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFiredancer/pseuds/TheFiredancer
Summary: Just a few short pieces, unconnected but short enough that I felt like I could publish them under one title. Originally written as portfolio examples for a zine application, but I figured I'd post them here too since the application is submitted. I hope you enjoy!





	Stories of Hallownest

I.

The wind howled past his dark blue hood as he faced the buildings and looming shapes in the distance. _So it was here still…_ He hadn’t been there since his childhood, back, he was told, in its prime. There was news years ago that it had fallen, at first refuge-seeking bugs from Hallownest would come through, but as time went on the trickle of bugs from Hallownest grew thinner before stopping altogether. They never said much. _Sickness… infection…_ losing loved ones, missing friends, a once bustling kingdom turned to ruin too fast to stop. Tiso grew up hearing these snippets of stories, watching bugs from his village leave to go see what was happening firsthand and never coming back. He was still young when he overheard the older bugs talking about Hallownest and those who were lost to it. “When I’m older, I’ll go and be the first one who comes back.” Tiso had always been a tad boastful.

The older bugs laughed, and one caught his breath long enough to say “You? You’d never make it past the gates. Whatever’s there will rip you apart in seconds and you’ll always be too weak to stop it.” Tiso walked away, face burning with embarrassment and rage, the other bugs’ laughter still echoing in his ears. The only one who didn’t laugh was his oldest brother, who promised they would travel to Hallownest together. The plan they came up with one night when Tiso couldn’t sleep was fairly straightforward. Tiso’s brother would travel there first, _I will keep my promise Tis, we’ll go together when you’re older. I just want to see it first, so we’ll know what to expect._ Then later when he returned and rested for however long he needed, the two of them would return together. The day his brother set off, Tiso waved and shouted well-wishes until he was out of sight.

He never came back.

And now Tiso stood at the edge of his destiny, so to speak. He’d finally prove to everyone who had doubted him, he’d prove _himself_. Tiso shook old memories from his mind. He wasn’t so soft-hearted or naïve enough to even think for a moment that his brother was still alive. _Weak… _the word echoed in Tiso’s ears as soon as despair threatened to overcome him. Tiso never allowed himself to mourn.

After walking a short distance he came upon a small village. He passed through the center, ignoring the ancient-looking bug who stood near the center of the village. Tiso had no time to listen to even one more person tell him he was too weak to survive whatever horrors thrived in this place. He felt something tap his arm lightly. Tiso turned to its source and found himself staring down into two pitch black voids in a pale mask. Unease flowed over him, though he was determined not to show it. He waited for it to speak. “Well?!” he snapped. The pale thing just tilted its head slightly, then walked past Tiso and hopped down a crumbling well just past the last building of the village. He followed after the small thing and found himself in some kind of tunnel system. There were bugs all over this road. Most of them were dead, but some of them were stumbling around as though they couldn’t feel their limbs. Some kind of orange substance was oozing from the sockets where eyes should have been, and they went after Tiso as soon as they saw him. Tiso cut them down easily, but even after each immediate threat had been stopped, Tiso’s heart was pounding. His hands started to shake, and he felt weakness for the first time since he was a child. _These infected husks are child’s play_, he thought. _But… What will I do if I come across his possessed corpse down in these depths?_

II.

He pledged his oath too long ago to remember.

_For the hive… for the Queen…_

The last line of defense, the only trained line of defense in any case, all the others were driven only by the infection. Maybe it was feeding on the hive’s last wish, to protect the whole. Maybe the infection gave them greater strength; who needs training or practice when you have pure rage and adrenaline fed by sick dreams of light? He could feel it trying to take him as well, the Queen’s, the hive’s, last knight. He didn’t know how to fight it, this invisible enemy that couldn’t be held off with a blade nor run from.

_For the hive… for the Queen…_

His head ached with thoughts, words that didn’t seem to belong to him at all. He could smell the sickly-sweet scent of the infection each time he left the Queen’s side, though he couldn’t tell if it was coming from his brothers and sisters or if it was coming from him. Each time it seemed like he was about to be lost to it, he looked at her, his Queen, and tried to remember the past, to remember the things she had said to him over the years. She was silent now.

_For the hive… for the Queen…_

Anger rose in his heart. This wasn’t even their fight; this wasn’t something any of them even tried to take part in… but it was killing them all the same. Oh, they held it off for a long time. While the rest of Hallownest was falling and crumbling, they protected their hive. They destroyed anything that tried to invade, and they thought themselves safe. It started slowly, with the littlest ones waking up in the middle of their sleep screaming about the light, about how it burned. The Queen did all she could to protect her hive, but in the end she grew so large and so sick that she died and left her knight as the hive’s sole protector. With the Queen gone the infection invaded faster, and he was forced to wall off sections of the hive, trying to separate the infected from the healthy but it didn’t matter. He could hear their buzzing throughout the hive, every single one of them fallen. Even though their minds didn’t seem to belong to them anymore, nothing could make them attack their own.

_For the hive… for the Queen…_

He was kneeling before his Queen when he heard the commotion. It was an invader, it had to be, nothing else would stir the hive like this. He rose and then bowed his head toward her. _My Queen, I am sworn to protect you. And to my dying breath I will do so, no matter who this invader is, I will not back down._ He stood at his full height, weapon raised and ready to fight off whatever threat approached.

_For the hive… for the Queen…_

_My knight…_ he heard a whisper so soft he barely comprehended what it was. He heard a crash as whatever approached knocked down the honeycomb barriers he put up between the Queen’s throne room and the rest of the infected hive. At last he could see his enemy. It was small, and it didn’t look like any bug he had ever seen. Its darkness contrasted starkly with the brightness of the hive. It raised its brutal-looking nail.

“For the hive!” He shouted, “For the Queen!”

The sound of clashing metal rang through the hive. He realized almost instantly that he was outclassed. Whatever this creature was, it was faster and stronger than he was. _Hive Protector…_ more words from an unknown speaker echoed in his mind. From the edges of his vision blazed a blinding light. He tried hard to concentrate on his opponent, but at the same time it seemed a battle was raging for his mind, for his very consciousness. _Hive Protector… I can grant you strength… you can’t defeat this threat alone._ He tried desperately to ignore it, to focus on this creature that was relentlessly attacking. _Hive Knight… don’t you want to protect your Queen? Or do you really want this hive to fall?_ The light in his vision was truly blinding him now, and half of the moves he made he didn’t think he was actually controlling. That was fine, maybe now he could finally rest…

_For the hive… for the Queen…_

His own thoughts were growing weaker every second. His inner voice was replaced with another unfamiliar one, one he’d only heard in dreams. Suddenly pain shot through him, momentarily shaking away the fog of infection. He looked down and saw the other creature’s nail sticking out of his chest. Weakly he fell to his knees before the corpse of his Queen.

_My Queen… I am sorry…_

_My Knight, you are free._

III.

The Elderbug drew his cloak tighter around him against the wind. Though it chilled him completely through the entire time he stood out here, he was grateful for the wind’s constant voice. He could imagine how silent Dirtmouth would be if the wind ever died, and he knew he wouldn’t last very long in the complete silence. There was only one other bug in the entire village, and she spent almost all her time in the shop. Her husband would come up from below every so often, he would even stop to talk with Elderbug at least for a short while before heading back down the well. The village was never really busy, but at least there was a steady flow of bugs passing through on their way to Hallownest proper. At least all the shops in Dirtmouth were open and occupied. At least bugs would stop to talk and keep him company for a little while before disappearing below. Elderbug never saw the same bug twice.

Now they passed through once in a very long while, and they never returned either. He did not know what was down there, but it wasn’t worth it for all the geo in the world as far as he was concerned. Each adventurer or fortune-seeker travelled below inspired by dreams, but it was nightmares that killed them all.

Footsteps approached and he saw a bug step out of the mist. This new bug was intelligent looking, collected, and to the Elderbug’s surprise, vaguely familiar. The bug’s head was covered by a blue-grey cloth and a rounded mask rested atop the cloth. “Hello, my friend!” the bug called out amiably. “It’s quite a journey to reach this place.”

“Is it? It has been a long time since I came to this place,” Elderbug said. “I am Elderbug, and I’m all that’s left of this town I’m afraid.”

“One friendly face is always better than none, I am glad to make your acquaintance,” the bug bowed slightly. “My name is Quirrel.”

“Likewise,” Elderbug said. “Most young bugs don’t bother to stop and talk anymore.”

“That’s a shame, young bugs would do well to listen to the wisdom you have to offer.”

“That is kind of you to say. I assume you are here to travel below as well? I’m told there are treasures and relics for the taking there. Though if that is what you seek, I must warn you that each bug that journeys below doesn’t come back. There’s a kind of plague throughout this kingdom now… bugs lose themselves there, if they manage to survive that long. If you ask me, no dream of treasure is worth the risk.”

“That is true, my friend,” Quirrel said. “I’ve heard the stories of this kingdom’s fall to ruin. I’ve been to this kingdom before, though my memory isn’t what it used to be so I couldn’t tell you when or why. I travel and seek only stories and knowledge.”

“Careful,” Elderbug warned. “Words can be just as enticing as treasure. Though I’ve never been down myself, I can tell you to always be on your guard there.”

“I will,” Quirrel said. “I’ll come back and tell you what I find.”

“The well at the edge of town is one of the only ways into the heart of Hallownest now, I don’t know how far you can get from there,” Elderbug said. “Though a little before you came through a very… determined young one came through. I don’t know what it is they seek, but I believe they could probably open the old paths that were closed long ago. They are a small creature; I would say bug but… I’m not really sure. They don’t say much but will listen attentively to whatever you say. I’m sure if you travel around Hallownest long enough you’ll come across them.”

“I will keep an eye out for them,” Quirrel said sincerely. “I’ll be on my way now.”

“I hope we cross paths again,” Elderbug said and watched yet another dream-seeker drop below the surface.


End file.
